Triumph Over Tragedy: Community Rallies For Family Displaced By House Fire

The first blessing was that no one was home when fire tore through the house on Griffing Avenue in Westhampton on Thursday, March 24.

The second blessing was the big heart of a small village.

A fire destroyed the Falvey family home and, a testament to the close-knit nature of the Westhampton Beach community and the love between two friends, within three days a GoFundMe fundraiser begun by 17-year-old Fainne Sheehan had exceeded its goal of raising $30,000 for her friend Keira Falvey and her family.

Keira, who is 17, and her mother, Mary, and 14-year-old sister, Margaret, lost all of their belongings when pernicious flames ripped through the house they’ve called home for more than four years.

Her cellphone doesn’t have service in school, so Keira wasn’t getting all the frantic messages being sent as the fire broke out on the morning of Thursday, March 24. “I had no idea what was happening — people were texting, but I wasn’t getting it,” Keira said.

Fainne saw footage of the fire on social media, but she couldn’t reach her best friend; now seniors, they’ve been close since the seventh grade. “I was really worried,” she said as the pair spoke on Monday, March 28.

Once Keira left for lunch, “one of my friends came up to me and said, ‘Oh my God, your house is on fire!’” She was leaving for lunch break and drove straight home.

She wasn’t sure whether her mother was there. “I called her twice, and she didn’t answer,” the senior recalled. “I was worried about her.”

Kiera said she didn’t see her mother’s car at the house and was relieved: Mary Falvey was at work at Northwell Health in Manorville, where she’s a nurse.

The house was still smoking as Keira took in the awful sight, and the burnt smell. The main part of the fire was in Margaret’s room; absolutely nothing of hers is salvageable. The house the Falveys rented is completely unlivable. They’re staying at a relative's home nearby.

“They don’t know how it started,” Keira said.

The same day, Fainne launched the GoFundMe donation drive. It’s very expensive for the family to get back on its feet, she said she realized. Fainne thought the community might be encouraged to get together and help.

The coming together was quick and, according to Keira, was “overwhelming, the kindness.”

Within three days, the GoFundMe page surpassed its $30,000 goal. “And we’re still getting donations every day, and that’s really great,” Fainne said.

Keira reported more money was donated from the high school track team family, as well as the Westhampton Yacht Squadron, where she’s worked for two summers. A furniture company offered donations of tables, chairs and mattresses to help the family replace lost items.

And on Saturday, April 2, the East Quogue School will host a spaghetti dinner, with proceeds going to support the family. Tickets are $10 per person, and food may be picked up at the elementary school between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. Call or text 631-834-1535 or 631-241-3066 to reserve a meal.

Confronting the loss of nearly all their possessions, Keira said, at first her mother was “a train wreck. It’s a lot.” But she quickly became “so thankful that people have been so kind. She couldn’t ask for a better community to live in.”

Kathleen Masterson, the director of health, physical education, and athletics at the high school, said she wasn’t surprised by the community’s swift and generous response.

“It doesn’t shock me whatsoever, what is happening in a terrible time,” she said. “This community is amazing and continues to inspire me when I watch acts of kindness like these that happen all the time.”

The Westhampton Beach community is very tight-knit, Masterson said, and “when there is tragedy, there is triumph, the generosity of others to help people in the worst time in their life.”

Volunteers from the Westhampton Beach Fire Department were called to the Griffing Avenue home at around 10 a.m. on March 24. First on scene, they found heavy smoke coming from a second-floor bedroom window. Firefighters gained entry through the front door, and the hose team was able to use the interior stairs to get to the bedroom, where they quickly extinguished the fire.

While colleagues were working the interior, two firefighters maneuvered the department’s ladder truck’s bucket into position so that they could step onto the roof and use a chain saw and other tools to cut two ventilation holes. Their task was made difficult by extremely slippery moss covering portions of the roof.

The Westhampton Beach volunteers responded with three chiefs, two engines, a ladder truck and a fire police vehicle. They received assistance from the Quogue Fire Department and Eastport Fire Department, and the East Quogue Fire Department sent a Rapid Intervention Team.

Personnel from the Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance and the Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Company were on scene, as were officers from the Westhampton Beach Police Department.

Fire marshals from Southampton Town and the Village of Westhampton Beach were at the scene, but the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. There were no injuries reported.